1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication systems, and in particular, to using a portal system to transmit caller information over the Internet to a call agent.
2. Statement of the Problem
Many large businesses and organizations use call centers to handle the high volume of calls that they receive. Call centers are traditionally housed in large facilities that have multiple work stations for call agents. The work stations have a phone and a computer to allow the agents to handle a call. When a call comes in to the call center, call center logic selects an agent to handle the call. The agent either looks up information about the caller using the computer or the information is automatically pushed to the agent's computer. Examples of caller information are a name and address of the caller, an account number of caller, preferences of the caller, and any previous transactions of the caller. The agent then handles the call using the caller information. Unfortunately, call centers as the one described above are expensive to operate considering the high costs of providing and maintaining the facility. Also, agents must commute to the site of call center which reduces the potential pool of workers available for the call center.
To help alleviate this problem, some companies have created distributed call centers. Distributed call centers allow agents to work from home. A call center office houses call center logic and a list of available agents. From home, an agent calls into the call center office to get on the list of available agents. When a call comes in, the call center logic selects one of the available agents and forwards the call to that agent. The phone at the agent's home rings and the agent handles the call. One problem with distributed call centers such as this is getting information about the caller to an agent to help the agent handle the call.
Distributed call agents also provide on-line assistance. An agent logs in to the call center office to get on the list of available agents. When an e-mail message comes in, the call center logic selects one of the available agents and forwards the e-mail message to that agent. The agents receives the e-mail message over his/her computer and the agent provides a response to the e-mail message. Once again, a problem with a distributed call center such as this is getting information about the sender of the e-mail message to an agent to help the agent respond to the e-mail message.
Many large businesses and organizations also use portals to allow users to access information. A portal is a user interface that defines a community of interest. A portal may provide a customized presentation to each particular user. One example of a portal is a web site at www.charlesschwab.com.
Typical portals operate as follows. A user logs in to the portal. During the login process, the portal obtains the Internet address of the user. When logged on, the user selects information to view. The portal sometimes customizes the information for that particular user. Once the information is selected, the portal pushes the information over the Internet to the Internet address of the user. Unfortunately, portals have not been effectively adapted to work with a telephone system to transfer information to a call agent.